Modest Lowe lauds 'blue collar' Glory

Perth Glory coach Kenny Lowe has refused to take credit for the club’s remarkable turnaround in fortunes.

Lowe celebrated one year in the job this week, successfully guiding Perth from competition strugglers of the Hyundai A-League in that time.

The English-born manager did not have it all his own way at first, enduring a 10-game winless run soon after stepping into the role of caretaker coach following the sacking of Alistair Edwards.

But a solid finish to last season saw Lowe win a two-year contract and he has justified the club’s decision to back him over more credentialed candidates for the position with a remarkable start to the new campaign.

Glory sits six points clear at the top of the league after 11 rounds and narrowly missed out on winning the inaugural Westfield FFA Cup earlier in the week.

The 52-year-old is being hailed a hero in Perth for turning Glory into a football powerhouse, but the man himself has been equally quick to deflect the praise being heaped on him by happy pundits.

“It’s not me, it’s everybody,” Lowe said after Glory’s 4-1 win over Central Coast at nib Stadium on Saturday night.

“We’re a close group and from day one we went out with a manta of that blue collar work ethic, a lot of honesty, a lot of integrity, and that’s what you’re seeing because that’s the people we’ve got behind the scenes in the office, on the bench and then on the pitch.

“If it goes wrong I get sacked…that’s the way it goes.

“If it goes well, maybe I get the credit, but it’s not down to me. It’s down to everybody – the players, the admin, the owner for having a fair pair of bollocks to give me the job in the first place.”

When asked what he would have said if someone had told him his side would be two games clear at top of the table before Christmas, Lowe said he would have questioned if that person had been “sectioned”.

“Everyone predicted us to be ninth in the league, but it doesn’t matter what people say,” he said.

“I’ve got no interest where we are in the league. We’ve just got to get better…better than we were last year.”

Glory will take on Melbourne rivals City on Boxing Day and Victory on January 2 before returning to Perth to avenge the FFA Cup final defeat to Adelaide on January 5.

Only hamstrung pair Youssouf Hersi (season) and Mitch Nichols (6-8 weeks) will be unavailable for the matches, despite an injury scare to Brazilian winger Sidnei (calf) during the win over the Mariners.